Iran says top nuclear scientist was killed by satellite-controlled AI-targeted machine gun

A satellite-controlled machine gun backed by artificial intelligence was used to assassinate a top nuclear scientist in Iran, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards told local media on Sunday.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a veteran physicist who was at the heart of Iran's nuclear research and defense activities, was driving on a highway outside Iran's capital Tehran with a security detail of 11 Guards on November 27, when the machine gun "zoomed in" on his face and fired 13 rounds, said rear-admiral Ali Fadavi.

"The machine gun was mounted on a Nissan pickup and focused only on martyr Fakhrizadeh's face such that his wife, who was only 25 centimeters (10 inches) away, was not shot," a news agency quoted him as saying.

It was being "controlled online" through a satellite and used an "advanced camera and artificial intelligence" to make the target, he added. 

Fadavi said that Fakhrizadeh's chief of security took four bullets "as he threw himself" on the scientist. He also said that there were no terrorists at the scene.

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Iran blames Israel for scientist's murder

Iranian authorities have blamed their principal enemy Israel and the exiled opposition group the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) for the assassination. State-run media had previously reported that "made in Israel" weapons were found at the scene.

Various narratives of the scientist's death have emerged since the attack, with Iran's defense ministry initially saying he was caught in an exchange of fire with his bodyguards, while a news agency claimed "a remote-controlled automatic machine gun" killed him, without citing any sources.

Even though he had little public profile, Fakhrizadeh was reportedly named by Israel as a prime player in Iran’s nuclear weapon’s quest. In the early 2000s, he had founded the Islamic republic’s military nuclear program.

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